In applications for the transmission of information via laser light energy through optical fibers, the optical fibers are typically arranged into groups and these groups are assembled as ribbons that contain multiple optical fibers. The groups may be arranged into supergroups by stacking multiple optical fiber ribbons to form an array structure. Such an array is typically comprised of rows and columns of fibers, each row comprising all the fibers contained within a particular ribbon and each column comprising one particular fiber from each ribbon. When it is necessary to distribute information from one optical fiber in a row group to an optical fiber in a column group an interconnect device known in the art as a "perfect shuffle" is typically used. Since interconnection devices typically introduce loss when inserted into a fiber optic transmission system, it is desirable that losses within the device be as low as possible. Single mode optical fiber systems are desirable when large amounts of information need to be transmitted but are particularly sensitive to transmission losses related to precise alignment of fibers. Prior art devices typically create a physical connection within the device, such as a splice or other optical junction, between an incoming fiber and an outgoing fiber and this physical connection creates an optical loss within the interconnection device.
Thus a need exists for an optical fiber perfect shuffle interconnection device that can be easily manufactured and which achieves lower optical losses than prior art devices.
The present invention overcomes many of the limitations of the prior art and provides some additional benefits at reduced cost of manufacture.